Apparatus for scrubbing ships&#39; bottoms below the water level



Aug. 28, 1923. 1,466,315

L. THORSEN APPARATUS FOR SCRUBBING SHIPS BOTTOMS BELOW THE WATER LEVELFiled Jun 2 1922 2 Sheets-Shegt 1 I/V'l/E/VTO R LiJddl lg 77701-5917 ATTvn Ey Aug. 28, 1923. I

I l L. THQRSEN APPARATUS FOR SCRUBBING SHIPS BOTTOMS BELOW THE WATERLEVEL Filed June 2, 1922 '2 Shets-Shat z l-n l/E/l/ o L dvig T/wrgerv974%!414CLW ATFOPWEYS Patented Aug. 28, 1 923.

LUIDVIG 'rnonsnn, on

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i 'APPABATUS FOR SCRUBBING SHIPS BDTTOli-ZS BELOW? THE WATER LEVEL.

Application filed June ,3,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Lunvro THORSEN, a subject of the King of Norway,residing at Stavanger Norway, have invented certain new and usefulln'iproveinents in Apparatus for Scrubbing Ships, Bottoms Below theWater Level; and I do hereby declare the following to be a' full, clear,and exact description of the inventionfsuch as will enable othersskilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying draw ings, and to letters or figuresof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. Li

The invention has for its object a self acting apparatus for scrubbing.ship s bottoms below the water levelywhile the ship is floating. Theapparatus of this kind hitherto constructed areeomplicated and are alsoconnected with a. great expenditure of power. The present apparatus isespecially suitable to maintain the ships bottom in a clean condition byt1'equent-use,whereas it is less suitable for the cleanscrubbing ofships bottoms which are much covered with herbs. I

According to the invention water under pressure is usedfo'r driving theapparatus, said water placing by means of turbines brush rollers intorotation and producing simultaneously by its outflow from the apparatusthe reaction force necessary to press the brush rollers against theshi'ps side, whether the latter is vertical; inclined or horizontal.

The invention is illustrated in the accom'- panying drawing in whichFig. 1 shows the apparatus in plan. Fig. 2 shows the same in side view.Fig. 3 shows diagrammatically tl'ie'mode of operation of the appara tus.Fig. at is a detail sectional view of the distributing valve. The twobrush rollers 1 and 2 may suitably be constructed as hollow metalrollers, upon which cylindric brushes are attached or slecves ofcocoa-mat may be attached to these rollers. Therollers are toothed atboth ends so as to lit with the flanges 3, 4 and 5, '6 respectively;

These flanges are fixed to pivots so as to be able to rotate in theirbearings the flanges 3 and 4 having thrust faces preventing theirdisplacing in axial direction, whereas 5 and 6 be released. anddisplaced sufliciently to release the toothings on the rollers 1 and 2',whereby the latter may be easily taken 1922. Serial No. 565,824.

out for changing brushes. The rollers l and 2 are provided with suitablearrangements for preventing rotation ofthe brushes'on the same. Upon"the roller pivots worin wheels 8 are keyed which are in mesh with worms10, the latter being fixedly keyed to spindles 12. Ont-he other end ofthe spindles12 runningwheels for turbines 14 are keyed. The latter maybe of anysuitable kind. The casings 15 and 16 enclosing the turbinewheels carry the conducting varies and are cast integral with thecasingenclosing the worm gear and they form at the same time bearingsfor the pivots-on the flanges 3 and 4c. This casing is adapted to bescrewed fast to the under frame-of the apparatus. This frame consists oftwo buoyancy tanks 17 and 18'which also carry the bearings for thepivots 5 and 6. By; angle iron stays thetanks 17 and 18 are fixedlyconnected with an intermediate buoyancy tank parallel to the rollers}The turbines have an inside supply, and the'inlet pipes are fixedlyconnected with the frame or buoyancy tank 19 and are bent outward,terminating at their outer ends in easilyrotatable or swivel pipecouplings 20, 21 which are located on-the'same axial line. To thesecouplings the inlet pipes 22, 23 are attached so that they may swingeasily. The pipes 22, are bent bow-like into the vertical central pl aneof the apparatus by means of the bends 24 and 25 in such amanner thatthe apparatus including the :trame, rollers. etc may be turned freelyabout the axis of couplings 20, 21 between the pipes 22 and'23.

.This bending takes place; however, as indicated in Figure 2. in twodifferent planes located symmetrically. Below the bends 24, 25 the pipes22. 23 are bent further together 'to two adjacent points 26 and 27, andthe plane through 24-26 and 25-27 coincides with the vertical symmetricplane of the apparatus.

At the points 26 and '27 the pipes are fixedly joined at such a mutualdistance that space is left for putting caoutchoue hoses 28, 291132011each pipe.

To the bottom tranie oi the apparatus 7 semi-cylindric plate screensi-BOand 81 are also attached (shown in Fig. 2., but not in Fig. l). The sameare concentric to the rollers 1 and 2 and leave a free space between thebrushes and the-screens. At the outward'ends of screens 30 and 31 guidescreens 32 and 33 are arranged to direct material dischargedby thebrushes. The guide screens are intended to catch the water stiredup bythe rotation of the brushes and throw it outward, so that instead oftending to wedge itself in between the brushes and the ships side it hasa tendency to assist in forcing the apparatus against the ship. To thescreens and-31 also the turbine outlet pipes 3%, 35 are attached, whichpass the water to the vertical sym metric plane of the apparatus. Theseoutlet pipes discharge into jet nozzles 36, 37 which are inclined as isseenfrom Figures 1 and 2. The two hoses 28 and 29 attached together arepassed up to distributing valve 38 mounted on a small container, whereinis arranged an easily removable sieve and to which the. rinsing hose ofthe ship isconnected the upper end of said hose being connected to thedeck water conduit of the ship. Figure a is a sect onal v ew of thevalve and its connections with the hose pipes 28 and 29 and its two freeoutlet ports 39, 40,

and its central valve body 41. This container with distributing valve 38is adapted to be attached to'the ships work boat or tender ortoasupportwhich may be moved along a quay or the like. The distributingvalve is provided with clear marks for angular positions of ahandle forgiving full water supply to both; pipes 22 23 or full water supply toone of them and partial water sup ly to the other one, or givingtullwater supply to one of them'and none to the other one.

- Besides, the different parts of the apparatus areso dimensioned thatthe weight of the apparatusmeluding the part of the hoses that must becarried by' the apparatusis practically equal to the buoyancy of theapparatus when in the water l1ne.

n l L.

The size and location of the buoyancy tanks in relation to the weightand buoyancy otthe total apparatus is distributed and" balanced in suchanianner that the apparatus is nearly in stable equilibrium, andv onlyan inconsiderable reserve displacement will bring the appartus toposition itself near to the level, where the apparatus after beingsetout'is left to itself.

The weight of the hoses andthepipe bow 22 and 23 will evidently causethese parts to hang downwards, and the, symmetric plane of these partswill consequently always remain in vertical position, thus actingstabilizingly upon the apparatus.

According as the apparatus is being near to the water line on to thekeel, its buoyancy will have to carry a greater or less part of theweight of the hose bight. This difi'erence is'balanced automatically bythe fact that tie plane sides of the buoyancy tanks are pressedinso-mewhat under the greater water pressure, whereby the buoyancy isve, even the extreme position o ii'the lPPSIZttUS does not surpass acertain max mum. The two turbines and worm gears are similar, but asthey have opposite positions, they will cause opposite I'Olfttlllg'fll-V rec tions of the two rollers l arrows in F 2). v 7

An apparatus of this sort be easily operated from the ballast donkey ofa steamship. Th operation of the apparatus-will be understood from theabove. The weight of the apparatus will benearly balanced by and 2 (seethe the buoyancy with the exception that the weight otthe pipe bow-actsas a ballast and constantly maintains the centrelineof the apparatusparallel to the water line. The amoaratus will steadily be pressedagainst the ships bottom by the reaction of" the water jets :torced outthrough the nozzles 36 and 37. Assumingthe apparatus being ar rangedmidships at the water line against a ship without lateral keels but witha centre keel and assuming the roller 2 beingstationary, whereas theroller 1 is supplied with power, then the apparatus will move downwardslike a motor car, the path of which is the slnps side and the track ofwhich. is-the rib line, its tractive pressure 7 being eq .al to thecomponent of the reaction force normal to the ships side, its drivingwheel being the roller 1 and its' forward drivingi'ora'e bcing'thecomponent oithc reaction lorce parallel to the ships side plus thenormal-component o't'reaction force multiplied. b ya coefficient offriction. The' re sistance to this motion is, for a moderate advancingmotion comparatively small, and

the consequence will be that the movement of the apparatus isaccelerated until a correspondingresistancehas been created on accountof the velocity. trolled rapid forward and sense of the distributingvalve 38. .he opposite .set of torcesthereby formedmay be so con- Therunning speed of'the apparatus is suitably controlled by theoperatorhavlnggf his attention directed to a thin rope, one end ofwhichis attached to the apparatus and which is passing-over arollarranged'atthe aonent of the wei 'ht of the catenar c; i

Thereby an unconquently an incomplete scrubbing ellect will result; Thevelocity therefore mustlbe re "tarded by giving the second (following) Pbrush roller 2 a partialpo'wer supply, it being throttled to a suitabledegree by niean's distributing valve 38, a small weight being attached(not shown) to the other end of the rope. I V

Inthis manner the apparatusis run down until it strikes against thekeel. Upon the end screens small cocoa matsare arrangechserving to fendoff the shock and having simule taneouslya scrubbing effect upon thekeel. By a small movement of the adjustable handle of the valve theaction of the two rollers is shifted, the roller 2 being now given fullsupply and being the leading one, whereas 1 is given a reduced supplyand has a braking effect, and consequently the ap paratus moves upwardsto the water line being constantly pressed against the same path whichit followed during its downward inotion. Upon the arrival of theapparatus to the water line the operator displaces the apparatus throughone roller length in longitudinal shipdirection, whereupon the work iscontinued.

Instead of producing a reaction pressure forcing the apparatus againstthe ships side directly by the reaction of out-flowing water jet, thepressure of this water jet may obviously also be utilized to causeindirectly the forcing of the apparatus against the ships side, forinstance by causing the water jet to drive one or more propellersrotating in the surrounding water.

It has been formerly proposed to utilize the reaction of a water jetproduced by a pump to press a scrubbing apparatus against the shipsside. This arrangement is therefore not included in thefeatures-protected by the present patent.

Claims a 1. ln apparatus for scrubbing ships bottoms below the waterlevel by means of rotating brush rollers, the combination of brushrollers mounted parallel to each other in a frame, buoyancy tanks onsaid frame,

turbines for rotating said brush rollers, means for supplying waterunder pressure to said turbines, and means for causing the water leavingsaid turbines to press said rollers against the ships side.

2. In apparatus for scrubbing ships bottoms below the water level bymeans of ro rating brush rollers, the combination of brush rollersmounted parallel to each other in a frame, buoyancy tanks on said Illframe, turbines for rotating said brush rollers, means for supplyingwater under pressure to said turbines, and means for causing the waterleaving said turbines to press said rollers against the ships side,comprising jet nozzles with reduced outlet opening.

3. In apparatus for scrubbing ships bottoms below the water level bymeans of ro' tating brush rollers, the combination of brush rollersmounted parallel to each other in a frame buo anc tanks on said frameturbines for rotating said brush rollers in opposite directions, meansfor supplying water under pressure to said turbines, means for causingthe water leaving said turbines to press saidrollers against the ships,side

and means for imparting to one of said rollers an excess of speed forthepurpose of irn- V parting a movement to the apparatus; At. Inapparatus for; scrubbing' sh-ips bottoms" below the waterlevel by meansofvro- V tating brush rollers, the combination of two" brush rollersmounted parallel toeach other turbines for rotating said brush rollersin in a frame, buoyancy tanks on said frame,

opposite directions, means for supplying.

water under pressure to said turbines, and means for causing the waterleaving said turbinesto press said rollers against the ships side andcontrolling means for imparting to one of said rollers an excessofdriving force, for the purpose of imparting a movement to the apparatus,said controlling means includino a distributing valve" located above thewater level.

6. In apparatus for scrubbing ships bottoms below the waterlevel bymeans of rotating brush rollers, the recombination of brush rollersmounted parallel to each other in a frame, buoyancy tanks on said frame,said tanks having walls adapted to be pressed inward by increasedpressure, turbines for rotating said brush rollers, means for supplyingwater under pressure to said turbines, and means for causing the waterleaving said turbines to press said rollers against the ships side. v

7. In apparatus for scrubbing ships bot toms below the water level bymeans of brush rollers, the combination of brush rollers mountedparallel, to each other in a i frame, buoyancytanks on said frame, pipecouplingsturnable about a common center line, and carrying the waterinlet pipes in such manner asto maintain by their gravity the brushrollers in positions parallel to the water surface, turbines forrotating said brush rollers, means for supplying water under pressure tosaid turbines, and means foncausing the water leaving said turbines topress said rollers against the ships side.

8. In apparatus for scrubbing ships bottoms below the water, level bymeans of couplings turnable about a common center line, passing throughthe common centre of V gravity'anclbuoyancy of the apparatus andcarrying'the water inlet pipes in such man- .ner as to maintain by theirgravity the-brush rollers in' positions parallel tothe surface, turlnnesfor rotating said brush rollers, means for supplying water underpressureto said turbines, anclmeans for causing the Water leavingsaicl turbinesto press said. rollers against the ships side; 7 e In testimony that Iclaim they foregoing-15 as my inventioml have -si'gned my name inpresence of two subscribing itnesses LUDVIGTHORSEN. Witnesses: v

ROBERT JoHNsn FRED SCHAEFER.

